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This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

All comics are silent comics. This is an immutable fact due to their very nature as a static, visual medium. This makes it all the more impressive that artists can imbue a page with a bevvy of techniques which trick our beautiful brains into not only interpreting some onamonpaeatic words as sound, but even suggest the sound’s quality in a way that we, as readers, hardly notice as we go. Black Panther 169 takes away the sense of perceived sound and employs a level of visual storytelling which this title had not yet utilized, making for a gripping read, one focused on two characters, in opposition, in a high-stakes sprint to their objectives. Continue reading →

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

All comic series are, in their own way, their own brand, and with a brand comes the idea of offering consistency in the same way that you expect a Big Mac to taste like a Big Mac, no matter where the McDonald’s is. So Spider-Man makes quips and deals with great responsibility, Batman broods, Deadpool makes pop culture references. We expect it. And while creative team changes in long-running series may offer variety, some hallmarks generally remain. Fifteen issues into the Ta-Nehisi Coates run of Black Panther, the consistencies are starting to wear on me as a reader. Continue reading →

Today, Drew and Ryan D. are discussing Black Panther 11, originally released February 22nd, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Drew: Comics is a medium of juxtaposition. We derive meaning from seeing two images next to one another, understanding some causal link that only exists in our minds. The magic, then, is crafting those images such that the reader can piece together the causality in a natural, intuitive way. That includes both the content of the images and the arrangement of those images on the page, which is remarkably complex. Indeed, in his seminal Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud points out that arranging panels is so complex “that even seasoned pros will sometimes blow it.” While the clarity issues in Black Panther 11 have more to do with content than layouts, I feel this sentiment is particularly apt, as the issue was drawn by not just one, but a veritable army of seasoned artists. It’s odd to argue that this artistic team failed to make this issue clear, but I’m afraid that’s really the lynchpin upon which all of this issue’s problems turn. Continue reading →

Today, Ryan D. and Patrick are discussing Black Panther: World of Wakanda 1, originally released November 9th, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Ryan D: Max Landis wised me up to “narrative potential” in a video from a while ago, but ever since then I can’t help but notice when a topic just screams with possibilities. This is the gift which is being presented to the collaborators of the new series Black Panther:World of Wakanda. Spinning directly off of Ta’Nehisi Coates’s current, ambitious run with the titular character, this series promises to flesh out the vibrant, complicated African nation in a way that will supplement the overarching story being told. While Wakanda may be the world’s most developed and advanced society — at once reaching forward as a progressive power-house and at the same time sitting comfortably in its heritage — it is also a nation recoiling from siege and tragedy. The opening chapter of World of Wakanda shows us two different glimpses into the prelude which lead to the current Wakanda read in the comics, one of a particular volatility, and thus far I think one of these two narrative paths is a much more gratifying path to follow.

Today, Ryan D. and Drew are discussing Black Panther 6, originally released September 14th, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Ryan D: Maybe it’s an American thing, but culture and media have trained me to almost always root for the revolution. Revolution is often associated with the fiery passion of change, the usurpation of the dolorous and oppressive status-quo, backed by the free-thinkers and do-gooders. Or maybe it’s the idea being studied in psychology about peoples’ need to root for the underdog. This, however, has not exactly been the case in the current run of Black Panther. Or has it? Issue six takes us a bit deeper into the side of the revolutionaries and the monarchy, and bring some new variables into the mix. Continue reading →

Today, Patrick and Ryan M. are discussing Black Panther 1, originally released April 6th, 2016.

Patrick: It’s tempting to believe that we live in an era of non-localized revolutions. People may be demonstrating in Ferguson, but images of those demonstrations were tweeted and shared and broadcast all over the world. Through media (both social and vanilla), I am able to experience the revolution. That is privileged belief: at most, I can only pretend to participate by engaging with those television broadcasts and facebook posts. I can always offer myself an emotional distance because I am physically removed from the actual chaos and momentum of revolution. The people actually swept up in those demonstrations aren’t so lucky — energy of the revolution pushes them ever forward, without time to craft their think-pieces about the most effective way to express their dissatisfaction. Black Panther 1 finds Wakanda on the brink of civil war, and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and artist Brian Stelfreeze expertly propel the chaos forward, while constantly reminding the reader how badly the powers that be wish they were only dealing with static, distant images on a screen. Continue reading →